Weather strip



June 28,1949. F, A n'Eg oN I 2,474,409

WEATHER STRIP "Filed June 11, 1947 IN VEN TOR.

1 ATTORNEY Patented June 28,1949

WEATHER STRIP Frank R. Anderson, South Hampton, N. H., as-

signor to The Bailey Company, Inc., Amesbury, Mass, a corporation of Massachusetts Application June11, 1947, SerialNo. 753,918

8 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in weather strips of the general type which are suitable for mounting in the window run channels of=vehicle bodies and the like, and which are required to be bendable in the plane of their extent so that they can follow curved contours of the window frames.

Such strips ordinarily have a sheet metal body strip which is beaded along one or both of its side edges, and one face of the strip usually has secured thereon a facing material of pile fabric or the like laid over a cushioning body of felt or the like, with the side edges of the facing material engaged in and held by edge beads of the body strip.

Various proposals have been made heretofore for rendering the composite strip capable of being flexed-in the plane of its extent. Some of these have involved cutting aWay of substantial amounts of metal at that portion of the body strip which underlies the cushion and facing fabrics, and have proved objectionable for various reasons, among which may be mentioned the need for covering thecut-outs and the occurrence of jagged metal at any region of transverse severance of the strip. Perhaps, the more satisfactory of the prior proposals employs a body strip whose main body part is closely and uniformly corrugated transversely of the strip, with the corrugations terminatin short of extending into the strip material along each margin which is formed into the edge beads of the strip. Usually, at least one of these uncorrugated margins of the strip is notched to provide spaced generally rectangular tongues which are-rolled into clamping relation to an edge of the facing material, and an intact bead strip is rolled over the tongues. However, in all of the prior corrugated strips, so far as I am aware, the corrugations have been closely related with no appreciable amount of non-corrugated metal intervening between adjacent corrugations. Also the walls of all corrugations in a straight strip have been generally parallel with each other throughout the extent of the strip.

Furthermore, it has been difficult, in the prior corrugated strips, to provide an adequate depth of corrugations. In order to leave marginal regions of un-corrugated stock, the corrugations must be formed by drawing themetal of the strip bodyto provide the substantially increased surface area of the corrugated strip body as compared with the initial plane body of the strip, and there have been definite limitations upon the aniountof drawing that the metal could withstand without the body being pierced at the crests 55 2 of corrugations. Hence, the depth or height of corrugations could not be as much as is desirable for ensuring an adequate take-in of excess stock under certain conditions of bending ofthe;

strip.

The mentioned prior corrugated strips may-be shaped around curved contours, but it has been difficult to attain a uniformly gradual curvature:

of the strips. Any substantial bending of the strip to follow a curved contour has resulted in bulging and crowding of material of the corrugations at the region of the. smaller radius of the bend. This crowding of material of the bodystrip has interfered with the attainment of a desired uniformity of curvature especially in exposed. Also the bulging and crowding of corrugations has been primarily at the back side of the strip which comes next to a support, with the result that the strips have beaded portions of the strips.

of corrugations whereby desirable advantages of 4 the prior corrugated strips are attained without the objectionable characteristics of the prior strips. By providing corrugations each of which has its maximum width at its end which is adjacent to one beaded edge of the strip and hasv gradually tapering extent to a point at its opposite end which is adjacent to the other beadededge of the strip, and by forming the corrugations by drawing the metal therein to the desired shape only at substantially spaced locations along the strip and without any substantial disturbance of material intervening between corrugations, theresulting corrugated body strip readily can bebent to follow curved contours without any objectionable crowding of corrugations and without any bulging at the rear face of the strip.

Another object is to provide a weather strip havinga sheet metal body strip wherein tapering corrugations are spaced substantially apart along the strip with the crests ofcorrugations at that face which is to be overlaid by a cushion strip and pile or other facing material. By providing tapering and spaced corrugations whose crests are at the face which is to be overlaid, the crests become embedded in the cushion without any apparent disturbanceof the smoothness-oi 3 the facing material, and the rear face of the strip is left entirely free of corrugation protuberances.

It is, moreover, a purpose and object of the invention generally to improve the structure and efiectiveness of weather strips, and. especially such strips of the general variety suitable for use in window run channels of vehicle bodies.

In the accompanying drawing:

Fig. 1 is a perspective View of a fragment of a weather strip embodying features of the invention, portions of the cushion and facing material and of the lower bead strip being broken away;

Fig. 2 is a plan view showing how a single sheet metal strip may be corrugated and notched along both edges and then may be medially severed to provide two similar corrugated strips, a portion of one severed strip being shown beaded and bent to follow a curved contour, the cushion and facing material which normally would be held by the beads being omitted;

Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view on line 33 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a cross-sectional view on line 4-4 of Fig. 2, but omitting the bead; and

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of a fragment of a slightly modified form of weather strip body.

Referring to the drawing, any suitable sheet metal may be employed for the body strip H3, each such strip iii conveniently being one-half of a wider strip I2 (Fig. 2) which may be advanced through a machine for notching its opposite side edges as at It and which also may form the corrugations it along the opposite side margins of the strip. Then the strip 12 may be severed along the dot and dash line [8 to provide two similar body strips Ii] ready to be faced with pile fabric 26 or the like laid over a felt cushioning strip 22 or the like, and beaded along its opposite side edges as at 2A, 28.

In the embodiment of the invention as herein represented, it will be obvious that the provision of the notches it along one edge of the body strip 10, conditions this edge of the strip for bending in its own plane more readily than if the edge were left intact. When the tongues I5 are bent inward to clamp the margin of fabric 20 and subsequently are covered by the intact bead strip 26, the clamping tongues can slip relative to bead strip 26 as the composite strip is bent to follow a curved contour. I

However, unless the intact body metal of strip I0 is formed to provide regions of yielding during such a bending of the composite strip, objectionable promiscuous deformations of the body strip will occur and interfere with a proper mounting of the strip and a desired smoothness and uniformity of curvature thereof.

According to the invention such regions of a controlled yielding of the body metal of a strip I0 are provided at substantially spaced locations along the body strip l0. Actually a region of yielding of the body metal is provided only at locations opposite the edge notches l4, and it is a feature of the invention that the body metal opposite each notch is drawn and shaped to provide a corrugation which is V-shape in cross-section and which also has generally V-shape in its extent from one end to the other of the corrugation. Preferably the wider end of the corrugation is at the inner edge wall of a notch l4, and the corrugation extends generally transversely of the strip Ill, with gradual taper to a mere point at its opposite end which may be a little inward of the in-rolled bead '24, as illustrated in Figs. 13, but which preferably is at or close to the 4 bead 24, as shown in Fig. 5. However, it is important that the displacing of metal in the formation of the corrugations I6 is such that the crests of corrugations will be at that face of body strip I0 which is to be overlaid by the cushion 22 and fabric 20. Hence, in a completed weather strip, the crests of corrugations become embedded in the cushion 22, as best seen in Fig. 3, with no appreciable disturbance of the smooth continuity of the facing fabric 20. Also, when a completed strip is bent in its own plane to follow any particular curved contour, the corrugated and beaded body strip readily may be bent to follow the particular curve, with the corrugations at the bend closing as may be necessary to accommodate eX- cesses of material at the smaller radius of the bend. However, the main body material of strip 10, intervening between corrugations, can continue in its initial plane so that the rear face of the composite strip continues free of any objectionable protuberant metal crowded out of the initial plane of the body strip. All of the excess metal due to the bending is accomodated by the corrugations at the bent region of the strip, these corrugations closing, more or less, and their crests being correspondingly indented more or less into the cushion 22 which can yield to accommodate the corrugations without any resulting visible disturbance of the smooth continuity of the fabric-covered face of the composite strip.

I have discovered that my generally V-extending corrugations are vastly more effective and efficient than the prior corrugations having parallel walls, but perhaps equally important is my discovery that my improved strips which omit corrugating the portions of the body strip opposite the tongues 15 more readily and eifectively may be shaped around curved contours without objectionable uncontrolled bulging of body stock out of the plane of the body strip. The invention makes it possible to attain more accurately uniform curvatures in weather strips which can closely hug a support without appreciable departure of the critical portions of the strip out of the predetermined plane of extent of the mounted strip.

Heretofore, the strips have had continuity of corrugations which were impressed into the strip stock by passin the strip between a pair of gears whose teeth formed the corrugations without regard to their relation to the notches or tongues at one or both margins of the strip. Hence, such corrugation as happened to come opposite the plane, rolled tongues were restricted as to closing by the intact rolled tongues and were practically useless so far as aiding a smooth and uniform bending was concerned. Actually, they have been more of a hindrance than a help. My improved weather strip, on the other hand, has its novel corrugations precisely distributed so that each is located opposite an edge notch M, with only plane, substantially undisturbed stock opposite the tongues l5.

From the standpoint of manufacture, the invention makes it practicably possible to form simultaneously two strips which may be covered and beaded simultaneously, and be cut by a single die with assurance that one strip will not have gained on the other with resulting inequalities of i cut lengths. Fig. 2 is illustrative of the bending of one body strip l0 rather than being illustrative of the successive steps in the formation of complete weather strips. Actually, in the process of manufacture, the double strip 12 of Fig. 2 will be: notched and corrugated and will be severed at dot and dash line l8, and the two identical strips ID will continue on side by side. A cushion strip 22 and facing strip will be arranged on each strip II! as they are fed in unison to the rollin mechanism which simultaneously rolls one edge of each strip to provide the fabric clamping bead 24 on each, and rolls the tongues l5 of each into clamping engagement with the facing strip, after which the bead strip 25 i applied to each strip. Both strips may be cut by a single die and each will have exactly the same length, a condition which could not be depended upon in the double strip-forming prior procedures employing the prior corrugated body strips.

While I have shown in Figs. 1-3 an advanta' geous structure wherein the corrugations iii ter minate short of extending to the bead. 24,112-15 pref erable to have each corrugation extend to or close to the bead 24 as illustrated in Fig. 5. Also, in Fig. 5, there is shown a relatively short slit H at the wider end of each corrugation i6, at the crest thereof. These short slits I? are not at all necessary but may be desirable in some cases to facilitate bending of the body strip 10', and they may be formed by a separate slitting operation or may be formed in the corrugating process by having the corrugating elements puncture the sheet stock at the deeper end of each corrugation. The slits I! may be as long or short as may be desirable but I, at present, prefer to limit their length approximately to one-seventh of the Width of a body strip 10, or say one-sixteenth of an inch for a body strip seven-sixteenths of an inch wide.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a weather strip for vehicle bodies and the like, a sheet metal body strip having a bead extending along each of its side edges, and transverse corrugations in the body strip between said beads and spaced substantially apart along the body strip, each said corrugation being generally V-shaped in cross-section and having generally V-shape extent from one end to the other thereof.

2. In a weather strip for vehicle bodies and the like, a sheet metal body strip having a bead extending along each of its side edges, and transverse corrugations in the body strip between said beads and spaced substantially apart along the body strip, each said corrugation being formed between substantial plane body portions of the strip, and each being generally V-shaped in cross-- section and having generally V-shape extent from one end to the other thereof, whereby said body strip may be bent in its own plane with said corrugations closing to accommodate excess material at the smaller radius of the bend and without appreciable displacement of said substantial plane body portions of the strip out of their original plane.

3. A weather strip for vehicle bodies and the like, comprising a sheet metal body strip having spaced apart integral tongues along one edge of the strip, each tongue being rolled inward, a flexible facing strip covering one face of the body strip with one margin clamped by said rolled tongues, means at the other edge of the body strip clamping the other margin of the facing strip, a bead strip rolled into covering relation to said rolled tongues, said body strip having spaced apart transverse corrugations therein, and each said corrugation having generally V-shaped crosssection and generally V-shaped tapering extent from one end to the other with the wider end of the corrugation at said beaded edge and opposite the space between two adjacent rolled tongues, the crests of said corrugations being toward said facing strip, and a body of cushioning material intervening between said body strip and said facing strip and having said corrugations indented therein.

4. A weather strip, comprising a sheet metal body strip having integral spaced apart rolled tongues along one edge, a facing strip covering one face of the body strip and having one of its margins engaged and held by said rolled tongues, a rolled bead at the other edge of the body strip engaging and holding the other margin of the facing strip, a transverse corrugation in the body strip opposite each space between adr jacent ones of said rolled tongues, each said corrugation being pressed from the plane of the body strip toward the facing strip, and each having tapering extent from a wider end at the edge having said spaced tongues and extending with diminishing taper to a point adjacent said beaded edge of the body strip, and a substantial body of cushioning material intervening between the body strip and the facing strip and having said corrugations indented therein.

5. In a weather strip, a sheet metal body strip having transverse corrugations therein at locations spaced substantial distances apart along the strip, each said corrugation having V-shaped cross-section and having substantial width at one end and tapering to a mere point at its other end, and each said corrugation having gradually diminishing depth from its wider end to its opposite end.

6. In a weather strip, a sheet metal body strip having a transverse corrugation interrupting the plane continuity of the strip at intervals along the strip, there being substantial plane bodies of metal between successive corrugations, and each corrugation having substantial width at one edge portion of the strip and. gradually tapering to a point at the other end of the corrugation, and each said corrugation also having V- shaped cross-section with diminishing depth of the V-groove from the wider end of the corrugation to the point end thereof.

7. In a weather strip, a sheet metal body strip having transverse corrugations therein at substantially spaced locations along the strip whereby substantial plane areas of strip stock intervene between successive corrugations, each said corrugation having V-shaped cross-section and generally 'V-shaped extent from end to end, and each having a relatively short slit extending inward from its wider end at the crest of the corrugation.

8. A weather strip for vehicle bodies and the like, comprising a sheet metal body strip having spaced apart integral rolled tongues along at least one edge of the strip, a bead strip covering said rolled tongues, said body strip having transverse corrugations therein only at locations opposite the space between said rolled tongues, and there being a substantial plane area of the body strip opposite each said rolled tongue and between successive corrugations.

FRANK R. ANDERSON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 

